A grouping of top domestic drugmakers, Indian Pharma Alliance, has told the government that global pharma giant 'Pfizer Inc is getting isolated in its campaign' to push the US to 'downgrade India' to a 'priority foreign country' in a review of its intellectual property (IP) regime.
The label is the lowest classification any country can find itself in on a US made rating scale for intellectual property protection. At worst, it can trigger trade sanctions against India by the American government.
In one of their sharpest attacks on the company yet, Indian drugmakers allege in a letter to various government arms that Pfizer's insistence to downgrade India could stem from its failure to strike successful tie-ups with generic drug companies in India unlike most of its peers, its dried pipeline of new drugs, and its perceived philosophy that the US IP model is the only right one.
All major global pharma companies have either formed strategic alliances with leading domestic firms for R&D, co-marketing, joint ventures or have acquired them, the letter reviewed by ET said.
"Pfizer signed up with three domestic companies (Hyderabad based Aurobindo Pharma, Bengaluru headquartered Biocon and Ahmedabad centred Claris Pharma) but failed in all of them. It probably feels left out. Pfizer doesn't want others to succeed, where it is left out," it alleges on the $51-billion company's motive to push ahead for India's downgrade.
A Pfizer spokesperson said that strategic partnerships are key in the company's efforts to deliver medicines across globe and it is open to collaborating in India as across the world.
It further says that Pfizer's pipeline of new products has dried up. "By any means, it wants to keep the old patents alive. It has thus chosen a path of litigations as against innovations to maintain its leadership position."
Philosophically, it perceives the US intellectual property rights model to be the only right model for countries of all types irrespective of their stage of economic development, the Indian industry body reckons.
A Pfizer spokesperson disputed these assertions saying "Our pipeline comprises of over 80 innovative therapies including potentially first-in-class vaccines for two deadly hospital-acquired infections, new antibodies for lupus and high cholesterol and the next-generation of targeted therapies for cancer." It is critical that India look holistically at the challenges of public health and prevention and not sacrifice the investment of innovators, she added.
Citing the instance of large US firms like GE, Honeywell Inc, Boeing, the letter by Indian drugmakers claims that not only a large number of American corporations have opposed downgrade of India, even many pharma firms have adopted a more 'conciliatory position'.
The label is the lowest classification any country can find itself in on a US made rating scale for intellectual property protection. At worst, it can trigger trade sanctions against India by the American government.
In one of their sharpest attacks on the company yet, Indian drugmakers allege in a letter to various government arms that Pfizer's insistence to downgrade India could stem from its failure to strike successful tie-ups with generic drug companies in India unlike most of its peers, its dried pipeline of new drugs, and its perceived philosophy that the US IP model is the only right one.
All major global pharma companies have either formed strategic alliances with leading domestic firms for R&D, co-marketing, joint ventures or have acquired them, the letter reviewed by ET said.
"Pfizer signed up with three domestic companies (Hyderabad based Aurobindo Pharma, Bengaluru headquartered Biocon and Ahmedabad centred Claris Pharma) but failed in all of them. It probably feels left out. Pfizer doesn't want others to succeed, where it is left out," it alleges on the $51-billion company's motive to push ahead for India's downgrade.
A Pfizer spokesperson said that strategic partnerships are key in the company's efforts to deliver medicines across globe and it is open to collaborating in India as across the world.
It further says that Pfizer's pipeline of new products has dried up. "By any means, it wants to keep the old patents alive. It has thus chosen a path of litigations as against innovations to maintain its leadership position."
Philosophically, it perceives the US intellectual property rights model to be the only right model for countries of all types irrespective of their stage of economic development, the Indian industry body reckons.
A Pfizer spokesperson disputed these assertions saying "Our pipeline comprises of over 80 innovative therapies including potentially first-in-class vaccines for two deadly hospital-acquired infections, new antibodies for lupus and high cholesterol and the next-generation of targeted therapies for cancer." It is critical that India look holistically at the challenges of public health and prevention and not sacrifice the investment of innovators, she added.
Citing the instance of large US firms like GE, Honeywell Inc, Boeing, the letter by Indian drugmakers claims that not only a large number of American corporations have opposed downgrade of India, even many pharma firms have adopted a more 'conciliatory position'.
